Repeat 1,000 Times: 'We Told You So' About Oslo, says R. Melamed

Israelis opposed to the Oslo Accords and the Gaza disengagement have once again been vindicated, says Rabbi Eliezer Melamed

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David Lev, 22/11/12 13:53

Rabbi Melamed

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Israelis who were opposed to the Oslo Accords and the Gaza disengagement have once again been vindicated, said Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Rav of the town of Har Bracha and the Rosh Yeshiva of the Har Bracha Yeshiva – and they must continually remind their fellow Israelis of how right they were. In this case, he writes in his weekly column in Besheva, Arutz Sheva's weekly magazine, the need to educate Israelis about the dangers of surrendering land to Arabs takes precedence over what many consider to be the breach of courtesy by those who say “we told you so.”

“When we said that Gaza would turn into an arena for missile launches on Israel, the leftists claimed we were 'threatening' the public - and now they are firing at the Tel Aviv area,” writes Rabbi Melamed. “We warned them that the evacuation of Gush Katif will strengthen our enemies, and the government officials arrogantly said that the withdrawal would increase security. We cautioned that giving up the Philadelphia belt along the Sinai border in Gaza would give the Arabs the opportunity to smuggle missiles into Gaza, and they said that the agreements with the Palestinians and the Egyptians would prevent any smuggling from taking place. And now, that too has come to pass.

“We said that leaving Gush Katif would propel Hamas to control of Gaza, and they claimed the opposite, that the PLO and Fatah would be strengthened,” Rabbi Melamed wrote. “We said that if we do withdraw, the next war against them would be more difficult, that we would have to fight them in their cities and our international status would be badly affected. They claimed the opposite, that if thy do attack us after the withdrawal, we would be able to strike back at them with force.”

In every case, he said, the position of the right has been borne out historically; it is only because of Israel's willingness to relinquish territory that the country finds itself in its current situation. “If the Israeli media were fair, they would play back all the comments by the politicians who supported Oslo and the disengagement, so that the public could hear and judge them for their silly promises, and see how their view of reality and their analytical ability is impaired.”

Although the country is still paying the price for its earlier mistakes, Rabbi Melamed is hopeful for the future. “Fortunately many Israelis are going through a process of opening their eyes to the truth. Many are already aware of the prejudices of the 'experts' on the left, their lack of roots and loyalty to their people and their homeland. Many Israelis relate to their analyses as comedy, in which any relation to actual reality is purely coincidental.”

The best way to encourage this process, he adds, is to continue repeating the mantra of “we told you so,” even though it may be “annoying and boring. We must continue to place the blame where it belongs, on the leaders of the left. We must repeat 'we told you so' even 1,000 times,” Rabbi Melamed adds. And if it is repeated enough times, the message may finally get through to Israelis, hopefully in time to prevent future mistakes.